Time flies when you're living life.
Fifty years ago my classmates and I graduated from Molalla High
School, in a small town in Oregon's Willamette Valley. There were about 120 of us. We were a collection from various rural elementary schools, and the big consolidated grade school in town. Many of us spent all twelve years together, and then upon graduation, we all went our separate ways.
Over the years various groups of us have attended previous reunions. I have made it to the big tens: 10, 20, 30, 40, and now 50. In between I have had little or no contact with my classmates, since I moved away to Seattle to go to college and never returned to live, only to visit. A local core has kept us together over the years through our reunions.
In preparation for meeting people I had not seen for many years, I got out my senior yearbook, of course, and my scrapbook of my grade school years. It is these classmates that I spent all 12 years with that I remember most.
Grade 1
I was a bit nervous about seeing all of these "strangers", introvert that I am, but I knew I would find my old best friend at some point. I had heard that she would be there. As we crossed the parking lot, I looked at another couple approaching, then looked again, then stared, I do believe, and then the young face appeared in the older one, and there she was, my best friend Sandra. I called her name, she looked hard at me, and then we embraced. We walked in together.
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Inside we were soon surrounded by more vaguely familiar faces, including my classmate and neighbor all those years ago, Dave Koch.
Thank goodness all of the classmates had their senior pictures on their name tags. I think by the time the evening was over I had talked to each one of them.
Our classmate Richard Reasoner was honored for all of the work over all of the years he has devoted to our class and to the Alumni Association.
It took some doing to get everyone in the class photo, but I think you can see almost every one's face in this one. I had my Nikon with me and Tom ended up taking the photos.
It looks like there are 53 of us. We named those who have passed and missed those who were unable to come. And we all just enjoyed each other.
Age is a funny thing. We look at old people and think, oh, they are old. Old people are different. And then suddenly we ARE the old people, and we know that we are only old on the outside. Inside we are still those young people who spent our childhoods together.
I found that big box we shipped from Albany, NY sitting on my front porch when I got back from running an errand and checking out the Farmer's Market in Burien. That was cool, too, but I couldn't buy much because we are leaving again tomorrow. But that's another story.
Back to the box.
Tom didn't hear the door bell, because he had his head into this job out on the patio. The tree roots have pushed up pavers, so he had some digging and cutting to do to make them safe again.
The gal at FedEx did quite a job with the buble wrap and the tape gun. It took some doing to free the contents.
There is some Mccoy pottery, some Haeger, some Shawnee, and an unknown swan. All were much lower in price that I would pay here. They are additions to my pottery collection.
The old paper mache Santa was a great find, very low price and in very good condition. He is holding a wooden covered bridge ornament that we bought in Vermont, of course.
There were also treasures we brought home in our luggage from our travels. The cheese board came from Vermont, as did the maple syrup and the cheese server. There is an ornament from Niagara Falls, the maple leaf from Woodstock, Vermont, and a hand blown glass ornament from the Simon Pierce Factory in Vermont. The Santa is a hand carved piece we picked up at an art fair in Richfield Springs, a small town in the Finger Lakes area of New York. The knife is from the factory in Shelburne Falls, NY.
And I just remembered, not pictured, is a tin wall sconce and a pottery candlestick from the crafters at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.
And then there were the books. This is just part of them. I have loaned out the picture book of Grandma Moses paintings.
It was a very historic, literary, artistic and geographic adventure trip, and the best part is not what we bought, but what we learned and experienced and saw and shared. And I have my blog journal to fill in the gaps when I forget what was where and where was when.
I have thought during this trip about why I travel. I could read about and find pictures of all of these things. But I travel to get first hand experience. There is nothing like actually being in a place, seeing, feeling for yourself, like experiencing the thunderous rushing waters of Niagara falls, or the fact that from now on, when I here the words "New York", I will not think automatically of that monumental city on the Hudson, but instead that beautiful state of rolling farmland, punctuated by many rivers, canals and waterfalls.
After getting the home garden back in shape, we knew the Whidbey Island garden would also need tending. We arrived Monday about noon to dark skies. We spent the rest of the day lounging and reading, and going for a few walks. It was good to finally have down time.
It rained overnight, so we took our time getting to the task. And then the weeding and clipping and thinning began. About three hours later, the garden was back under control. And by then the sun was shining. It was great having lunch on the deck.
Looking good.
Chocolate Poppies are popping, seeds from the Chocolate Flower Farm in Langley.
A self-hybridized dark red.
With the work done I took time to check out the beach. The tide was w-a-y out.
We had decided to return home this afternoon, but first I took a walk on the dike.
The wild roses are blooming, and there are lots of other little bloomers, too.
Scotch Broom
Wild blackberries
Ox eye daises.
Of course with the tide out, the lagoon is empty. No ducks today.
We scrambled and caught the 3:00 ferry.
It looks like the first day of summer, tomorrow, will be sunny and about 72. Just perfect. And we have a Sounders soccer match at the stadium in the evening. It will still be light when the match is over at 9:00. It's summer solstice!
While I'm still recovering from our travels, there is no rest around here. We have spent most of the weekend getting the yard back in shape. That mostly means grooming, as everything is looking pretty good. Plants have grown and bloomed, but we didn't miss too much.
The vegetable and cut flower garden is growing nicely. Tom had some tying up and weeding to do here.
The musk rose on the cherry tree is in full bloom, scenting the lower garden.
And the clematis is climbing and beginning to bloom too.
Rose petals on the lawn.
While we were finishing up in the yard this afternoon, Jake was here making a batch of home brew beer. What a process. I have some pics I'll post some other time.
And then we grilled our dinner and shared a meal with Jake.
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